The "volksvegan" at our campsite near Mt. Hood.It just wouldn't be summer without an annual summer road trip. There's simply nothing like piling into the car and hitting the road, bound for a remote location to escape the heat of the season. This summer I will be on the ultimate road trip: our volksvegan adventure, an experiment in sustainable travel.

We call our 1982 Volkswagen Vanagon a "volksvegan" because it is a diesel that my boyfriend modified to run on waste vegetable oil (WVO). This trip has been in the back of our minds since we began looking for a diesel VW over a year ago. Once we finally found one of the rare diesel Vanagons (and my boyfriend drove it from Atlanta, where he bought it, up to Idaho), we immediately began researching and installing a kit from Greasecar that would allow us to run it on veggie oil we collected from local restaurants.

It has been quite a process getting her roadworthy, but after installing a new turbo engine, a second tank and system for the grease, and replacing parts on our old bus bit by bit (including installing the all-important hemp/organic cotton pop-top canvas), we are finally ready to hit the road for the ultimate test of this experimental sustainable fuel.

Now, I'm no scientist, and I'm certainly no mechanic, but here's my understanding of how WVO works… WVO is more sustainable than diesel or gas because it is making use of a waste product that would otherwise be thrown away. Also, it is a closed-loop system, like biodiesel, because it is made from plants that help reduce CO2 while creating oxygen. This way, the emissions from burning the WVO (which are much less than normal diesel or gas) are offset by the plants that created the oil.

Any diesel can easily be converted to a WVO car with a little know-how and a conversion kit (bought or homemade). There are several companies that offer conversion kits, and as I mentioned, we got ours from Greasecar. The conversion consists of a second tank for the WVO, an in-line filter as well as a pre-filtering system, and valves that control whether the car is running on diesel or WVO. Just don't ask me how to install it — my boyfriend did all the grunt work! The car must be started on diesel (we use biodiesel in our diesel tank whenever we can get it), and run for just long enough to warm up the WVO until it reaches the same viscosity as diesel. Coolant lines help heat the WVO, and in the summer especially, it usually only takes a bit before we can flip a switch on our dash and start running on WVO.

We have noticed that running on WVO gets us about the same mileage as diesel (for our bus, this is around 30 miles per gallon) and the engine actually runs a bit quieter since the WVO acts as a lubricant. And yes, it does smell like french fries!

After converting our car and learning about WVO, we began planning for the ultimate road trip. We had been wanting to leave Idaho for quite some time, but we weren't sure where we'd like to end up. So we decided to visit the places we were interested in moving to (and do a lot of camping and backpacking along the way) on one big volksvegan adventure. Once the decision was made, we quit our jobs, sold or stored almost all our belongings, and hit the road.

Our first stop was just 300 miles away in Boise, Idaho, where we both grew up (and where my parents were kind enough to offer some storage space and watch my cat for the summer). We quickly ran into a few kinks when our volksvegan overheated because of a coolant hose leak. Once in Boise, we scrambled to fix the leak before heading to Portland for my cousin's wedding. It was a long trip there, because we found out that the coolant reservoir was also leaking! So in Portland, more parts had to be tracked down, and soon the coolant system was fixed. We headed back to Boise (for another wedding!) and stopped in the Mt. Hood Wilderness to camp. Once back in Boise, we took the bus in to a shop because she wasn't starting up very well, and after dealing with a grumpy mechanic who didn't understand the WVO system or want to work on the bus because of it, we finally got some new glow plugs installed and had everything checked out so that it would start up reliably.

We played the waiting game in Boise for a bit, but while we were there, we did find some WVO thanks to a web site called FillUp4Free. Using our mobile pump and filtration system, we're filtering the WVO and now we're really ready to hit the road! Our next stop will be Yellowstone National Park, where we'll meet a friend before heading up through Montana and Glacier National Park to Canada. We'll also be checking out Oregon and Northern California (where we should have no problems finding WVO), although there is no concrete plan. We'll go wherever the WVO takes us!

Unfortunately, since we'll be on the road with an unpredictable schedule, I must take a hiatus from my weekly art & design column here on Green Options. We did start a web site for our trip though, so feel free to follow our journey at volksvegan.org. I'll update it whenever I can, and may even post now and then on Green Options to share what I'll be learning about sustainable travel and green living on the road. Until the volksvegan adventure leaves us settled in somewhere new, happy trails!

The Earth Tub

Question: What are some ways that hotels who produce large volumes of food sraps minimize wastes? Currently all food scraps are thrown into a large commercial compactor bin. Any ideas how this can be overcome and a more eco-efficient strategy adopted?

Answer: My local co-op recently implemented one solution for large amounts of food waste. It's called the Earth Tub, a commercial duty composter made for businesses like hotels and restaurants that produce large amounts of food scraps. It's a self-contained system that quickly composts food scraps, is easy to stir, and can be used year-round.

The Earth Tub is made by Green Mountain Technologies, specialists in composting technologies that describe their product as a perfect sustainable solution for businesses such as hotels:

The Earth Tub is a small scale, in-vessel composting system for recycling organic waste materials at the site where they are generated. Complete with a bio-filter for odor processing and control, this system provides a neighborhood friendly efficient composting technology. The Earth Tub has been developed specifically to meet the composting needs of universities/schools, restaurants/cafeterias, commercial food processors, hospitals, multi-unit residential dwellings, camps and other institutional organic waste generators.

The Earth Tub can process up to 500 pounds of waste a day, and it compacts as it composts. It is also a modular design so it's easy to expand. It is designed for food scraps, yard waste, and needs a bit of dry material like sawdust or shredded paper to control moisture levels. It sounds like a great solution for a large operation like a hotel, and then you could use the compost it creates in your landscaping.

In addition to a large composter, there are many practices that can be implemented to help reduce waste and become more eco-friendly in your operations. One idea is to adjust the portion sizes at restaurants so that less waste is produced. At most restaurants, the portion sizes are much too big for one person to finish in a meal (not that this keeps people from trying). Adjusting portion sizes can be a trial and error process until you notice that less food is thrown away.

Another option would be to change the types of meals you offer so there are more sustainable options. For instance, offering more vegan and vegetarian meals would not only make healthier food available to your customers, but plant-based foods are less wasteful to produce and thus more sustainable. This will also make more fodder for the Earth Tub, since the majority of food waste given to it should ideally be non-meat and non-dairy.

Other things you can do to become a more sustainable business are to source local and organic ingredients whenever possible. You could go as local as possible by growing some of your own ingredients! Herbs and spices are easy to grow in windowboxes, or on a larger scale, a rooftop garden could provide not only fresh ingredients, but insulation and increased energy efficiency. There are many things a hotel or other large business can do to become a more sustainable operation, from using natural laundry detergents and non-toxic cleaning materials to using an Earth Tub.

By adjusting your hotel operations and looking into composting options like the earth tub, I'm sure you can become a greener business. Don't forget to advertise all you're doing to be sustainable, it may just help attract new customers!

This is the final installment of my summary of our Green Design Dialogue discussion on May 25. I introduced the participating designers in my first post, and continued summarizing our discussion on green design in the second post.

We wrapped up our discussion on sustainability in the design industry by summarizing the challenges facing green design and how we might handle them, and discussed new ideas for bringing about change in our field.

One of many hurdles to the graphic design industry "going green" is a lack of comprehensive resources for designers to turn to. This is slowly beginning to change as sites like Design Can Change and renourish emerge, and little by little, the list of good green design resources is growing. We discussed that there may be a lot of information out there, but much of it is difficult for designers to dive into. Resources for designers seem to work best when they come from designers, and are also well-designed and easy to understand.

There is no specific set of criteria for certification of green design businesses. Jess mentioned that she is having her business certified as sustainable locally, but that the certification process definitely isn't catered to the communications industry, and some of the criteria don't make much sense to her business. Also, such certification really isn't available on a nationwide scale; only certain local entities offer it. Another problem with certification is that, as Dani mentioned, "there isn't one set standard; every designer and every business is going to have their own set of challenges," or even their own definition of sustainability. And, as Eric B pointed out, it's difficult to define standards for green design that are measurable when we don't even seem to have an accepted definition of design within the profession.

Dani brought up a good point during our talk: "In order to actually accomplish sustainability, it's important that people have a system that they can a) commit to, and b) they can do in stages, without feeling like they have to do everything at once." The lack of a system like this is perhaps what intimidates designers when they first learn about sustainability. The topic just seems so overwhelming that many don't know where to begin. Change needs to be incremental so that sustainability is more accessible. If people can commit to just a few changes a year, they would be less likely to be overwhelmed and steady progress toward a greener design industry would be made. As Eric K said, "Perhaps we have to extend the notion that you don't have to do everything perfectly, but you really should do something."

From this discussion we moved into a novel idea of Dani's suggestion: "An action plan for sustainability. What can you commit to this year?" This would be some sort of checklist for design businesses with different tiers of commitment as they make changes. The list of changes to implement could be checked off as they are completed, and the challenge would be to make a small number of changes each year, gradually greening the business in a way that isn't overwhelming or intimidating.

The idea of action plans was well-received by the group, and we began discussing how something like it might come about and how it would create change in the design industry. Dani mentioned that there need to be a variety of choices for change because each designer has their own limitations and business dynamics. The action plan would need to be transparent and flexible enough to allow it to be adapted for each unique business. It is important to give people information and allow them to make their own choices based on their own circumstances. The system would need to be rewards based and there would need to be some way to track progress and keep people accountable to the changes they have committed to. We decided to develop this action plan idea in a future discussion, with the hopes that by making an accessible checklist for change, designers would jump on board and get involved in greening their practices.

As our chat progressed, we talked about how we define the term "green design." Dani's approach to green design focused on materials: sourcing local and sustainable paper, ink, and printing, reusing and reducing the use of materials, and just thinking about the green options available for each project. I found it difficult to define green design because it's such a broad topic, but basically it means trying to make each project as low-impact and beneficial as possible, and using the design medium to communicate messages of sustainability. Designers, as communicators, have an immense power to provoke thought and change, and that is one of the main reasons I became a designer. Jess mentioned the need to expand the definition of green design beyond materials, and to focus on processes and choices during each project.

At the end of our discussion, we summarized the challenges we face as green designers and how we may address them. Some of those challenges include educating consumers, clients, and designers about sustainable options, overcoming the intimidation factor of sustainability, removing the stereotypes associated with going green, and the American tendency to be overly competitive and see going green as some sort of contest. We need to begin by educating each other and making sustainability a focus in design education as well. Green designers need to constantly be learning and sharing what they learn about sustainability, and discussing it with their vendors and clients. This may require discussing sustainability as a business advantage and revealing how interconnected it is to success. Change happens from the bottom up and the top down, so we need to use every avenue available to educate about sustainability and bring about change.

The enthusiasm and energy we shared about green design has renewed my interest in sustainable design and my faith in the design industry. As the Green Design Dialogue participants showed me, sustainability is alive and well in my chosen field, and it will only continue to be more important. Designers are making big strides in the right direction, and the fact that we're discussing the issue and seeing so many resources pop up is a good sign. We hope to continue the Green Design Dialogues (and the action plan for sustainability idea) in the future. I want to thank each person who participated in our first discussion, and I hope other designers will catch on and join us!

Screen shots of Design Can Change

In my first report on Green Design Dialogues, I introduced the six participants of our May 25 discussion on green design and summarized a bit of what we talked about. Obviously, sustainability and design is a huge topic, and one these green designers love to talk about, so here is a continuation of our first Green Design Dialogue.

The energy of our conversation was rising as we discussed changes in the design industry. It is clear that designers are slowly beginning a journey towards a more sustainable way of working. Eric K said, "We're crawling, but it may be a little messy before we really work things out." Sustainability really offers a great opportunity for the design industry, and we all agreed that it's taking hold and will be very important to design in the future.

The paper industry is one example of a growing consciousness of green practices. Paper companies are big contributors to pollution and greenhouse gases, and they're slowly realizing it. There are now many sustainable paper options designers need to be aware of as greener papers evolve. Paper distributors, printers, and ultimately, designers, are all starting to pay attention to the chain of custody and all the effects of their paper choices. Of course, many of us agreed that part of the challenge of green design was moving beyond paper.

Eric K said, "The paper issue is a key one, but I keep asking how we can move past that paradigm as the key method of communication. There are more intelligent ways of reaching our audiences…. We've been saying 'solutions, not stuff.'" Graphic designers do tend to be stuck in the realm of the printed page. Reducing our dependence on paper and expanding our offerings to include other media are certainly great ways to design more sustainably. But, as Dani mentioned, there is still a need for print. Printed pieces do have a role to play in design and communication, but design as a strategy and process can be applied much more broadly than to just brochures, packaging, and magazines.

Some designers feel a bit threatened by this talk of moving beyond paper and print and making something intangible. It probably scares a lot of printers as well! As Bryn puts it, "for years, design has been all about the artifact, not the thinking." This is slowly changing as we begin to place more value in the intangible (think mp3s or other digital media).

Efficiency and choosing the right media and materials for the message are a large part of green design. Another important aspect is the idea of simplifying and using less "stuff." This is a challenge, especially in such a competitive capitalist environment. Our culture is fixated on materialism, and it is largely by design that this has happened. So the question of how we can get by with less needs to be answered for consumers. As Jess said, "We need to educate consumers on how to shop and consume all over again. AND we need to educate businesses on how to produce appropriately."

We began discussing the idea of no-waste solutions, which is what we agreed every design should strive for. Nature is a great example of beautiful no-waste design, for it recycles everything. Sometimes this may require going beyond what the client asks for and choosing a medium that will solve their problem without creating waste. It can definitely be difficult to convince some clients to try unconventional ideas in their marketing, so designers need to make a business case for more sustainable solutions. Eric K says that his company has had to become more creative with how they pitch ideas to clients to convince them that sustainable solutions are in their best interests. In this way, designers are becoming more strategic and consultative, and less likely to be just "making stuff." Green design requires asking more questions and digging deeper into truly effective and efficient communication.

So, we know that the industry is changing, but how can we help bring change about and make design sustainable? It begins with education, of both designers and consumers. As Eric B said, we need "influencers" in the profession to lead the way. We also need to be able to convince our clients (and fellow designers) that green design makes sense from a business and economic standpoint. Change will come about when designers really think about the effectiveness of their efforts and consider new ways of communicating. Learning what is effective, from a marketing standpoint, and carefully considering your audience, lead to design decisions that minimize waste and communicate well.

This big-picture thinking leads to design being used more as a process or a system than a tangible object. Graphic designers face the challenge of having to expand past visual, tangible design to "designing" ideas and solutions. We agreed that visual design will always be relevant, but it may be just one tool in a designer's toolbox. Design is, after all, mostly about ideas, but it seems that many designers are more focused on just making things pretty. Green design is deeper design - focused on solving problems and creating meaning.

In my next post I will finish summarizing our first Green Design Dialogue, covering our discussion of challenges facing the design industry and how we might address them, and some ideas for stimulating thought and action on sustainable design.

I live on the Palouse (a region of eastern Washington and northern Idaho), which is famous for its rolling hills and crops such as wheat and lentils. When I think of eating locally-grown foods, lentils instantly come to mind. In fact, lentils are taken quite seriously here. In nearby Pullman, Washington, there is even an annual Lentil Festival celebrating the lovely legume. No, I'm not kidding.

The Palouse is known as the most important lentil growing region in the United States, producing about a third of all lentils grown nationally. So obviously, local lentils are easy to come by around here, and thankfully they don't have to travel far, which makes them a very sustainable option. There is a large lentil farm just a few miles east of me, and many varieties of local and organic lentils abound in the Co-op's bulk bins. Lentils are a great vegan source of protein, fiber, and other nutrients, so they are one of my favorite kitchen staples.

There are many varieties of lentils, with a range of beautiful colors and textures. Green lentils and red lentils are quite common, but there are also yellow, brown and black varieties. I prefer red lentils because they cook very quickly. For the following recipe I also used quinoa, which is a small, versatile grain that is high in iron and protein, making it another great vegan staple. You can add any veggies that are in season, I just used whatever I could find in the fridge! Be sure to use local and organic ingredients whenever possible, and buy in bulk to cut down on packaging waste.

Curried Lentils & Quinoa With Veggies
Serves: 2 - 4. Preparation time: 30 - 45 minutes.

1 small head of cauliflower, broken into pieces
1 Tablespoon canola or olive oil
1/2 a yellow or red onion, diced
1 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 - 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
1/2 a zucchini
1/2 cup fresh snap peas
3/4 cup red lentils
1/2 cup quinoa
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth (or water)
2 Tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
dashes of: salt, pepper, cumin, and cinnamon to taste
fresh chopped cilantro

Chop the cauliflower and steam. (I use a pot with a steamer basket over about 1 inch of water).

Dice onions and mince ginger and garlic. Heat oil in a large saucepan or soup pot and when it's hot, sauté onions, garlic, and ginger in it. Meanwhile, snap the ends off of the snap peas and dice zucchini. Once the onions are softened, add the peas and zucchini to the saucepan.

After about 5 minutes, add the lentils, quinoa, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Add all spices and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes or until quinoa and lentils are tender. Add the cauliflower once it is crisp-tender. Cover the pot and simmer, stirring often, and add more liquid if the mixture looks dry.

Once the lentils and quinoa are soft, taste and adjust seasonings. Remove from heat, add chopped cilantro, and serve. I like to top mine with a dusting of nutritional yeast for extra vitamin B12.

Cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans) would also make a great addition to this recipe, as they go very well with curry.

If you'd like to experiment with raw and living foods, summer is a great time to do so! And you don't have to give up lentils to eat raw either. Lentils can be soaked and sprouted for optimum nutrition and digestibility. Just soak lentils in water overnight (about 8 hours), then strain them into a colander and set it on a bowl. Leave the lentils in the colander for about 3 days, rinsing each day in clean water, until small "tails" sprout from the lentils. Once the "tails" are about 1/4 inch long, the lentils are ready to use or store in a jar in the fridge. I like using sprouted lentils on salads, in soups, and in raw burritos.

For more vegan recipes using lentils, see VegCooking.com. For more information on raw and living foods and lots of delicious raw recipes, I suggest the wonderful book RAW: The UNcook Book by Juliano Brotman and Erika Lenkert. Enjoy those lentils!

"Mr. Green" poster design by Von Glitschka

Sustainability is becoming a pressing concern to the graphic design community. Designers are buzzing about it as they try to green their own practices and make sense of it all. In order to tap into this buzz, I organized a round table virtual discussion with several people involved in the design industry to chat about green design and the growing sensibilities of sustainability in our field.

"Green Design Dialogues" was born as a way to build the green design community and learn from each other. Our first discussion, via instant messaging, was May 25th. We touched on a broad range of topics relating to green design, which I will report on in a series of "Green Design Dialogues" posts in coming weeks. This week, I'll introduce the crew involved with our first Green Design Dialogue and relay each designer's experience with green design before summarizing our discussion.

Involved in the chat were designers from various backgrounds. Bryn Mooth joined us from HOW magazine, a wonderful graphic design magazine that has recently started covering more green topics. Dani Nordin, founder and principal designer at The Zen Kitchen, brought to the discussion her experience with running a small design studio that focuses on green design. Eric Benson is a Professor at the University of Illinois and the creator of the wonderful green design resource renourish. Eric Karjaluoto works at the interactive services firm smashLAB in Vancouver, and was involved in creating Design Can Change, an excellent call to action for the design community. Jess Sand is an independent designer and writer at her communications studio Roughstock Studios, who also writes a great blog on "sustainability for the rest of us," Small Failures. And of course, your humble Green Options design writer, Megan Prusynski, brought everyone together for the chat.

We started off our dialogue with a quick introduction and by sharing our own experiences with green design. Eric K began by explaining, "At smashLAB we simply started out by trying to find ways to make our studio more sustainable. Along the way, we realized that there were many like that, and as a result tried to make some information available that we could share with others in the community." Thus, Design Can Change came about from the firm's efforts at greening their own practices and desire to share what they learned.

Bryn from HOW magazine mentioned that she has noticed a shift from talking the talk to walking the walk in the design community. She said, "It seems like we're starting to move beyond the theoretical discussion of making design sustainable (a la the AIGA conference a couple of years ago) and more towards actually DOING things about it." HOW magazine has seen an increase in promotions from paper companies touting their new FSC certifications or green power usage.

Both Jess and Dani's journeys into sustainability began with their own lives and moved into their businesses. Jess mentioned that she began with trying to live more sustainably on a personal level, and started sharing her experiences because as a writer, it was important for her to do so. She also recently earned her certification in sustainable business management. Dani began her professional life as an environmental activist and discovered graphic design through her activism. She began a career as a freelance designer and noticed from places she worked how wasteful offices were and how little attention was paid to the environmental impact of projects and business practices. Her studio is now a green certified business.

My interest with green design began in college while I was studying art and graphic design and trying to meld what I was learning with my love of nature and my inner environmentalist. I wrote many a paper about design ethics and my thesis topic was socially and environmentally conscious design. However our interests in green design began, we are all now seeing an awakening in the industry and a focus on sustainability and change, which makes us green designers very happy!

Over the past few years, green designers have started out by doing their own research. Most of us had jumped into green design by simply immersing ourselves in it. Dani noted the importance of reading a lot for her, so that she knew a lot about the subject before getting started. Several of us have noticed that there are more resources about green graphic design now than just a couple of years ago, and, as Jess said: "With so much out there (some good, some junk), we're going to see a few places rise to the top. I just hope they're good ones" like renourish and Design Can Change.

Each designer's journey to sustainability is unique, and we've all had our stumbling blocks along the way. We discussed that each person approaches green living and green design differently, making different tradeoffs and decisions. It was certainly apparent to all of us that our industry was changing, and the green design movement was certainly getting traction. Eric K suggested that the surge of interest in green design stems from An Inconvenient Truth. What began as a grassroots movement has become a mainstream dialogue that is leading to action and change.

Businesses have begun taking an interest in sustainability as a strategy and a competitive advantage, and sustainable options are something designers are starting to offer their clients. Designers and communicators are taking responsibility for their work. We all agreed that sustainability was very important for the design industry because creatives are the makers of many things and communicators with many people. We are responsible for putting messages out there, we have the power to communicate, educate, open minds, or incite change. Graphic designers also use a lot of paper. As Jess pointed out, "Paper use has increased 20-40% since the advent of the paperless office." Dani mentioned her aversion to creating direct mail pieces since the beginning of her career.

Overall, people are beginning to take responsibility for their environmental impact and be more conscious of what they can do. As Eric K put it, "It's simply an issue of responsibility. We don't drive recklessly, and we shouldn't be living so either." Many industries are making changes as they learn more about environmental responsibility. The paper industry has recently made a huge push to go green and the design industry is changing along with it. The momentum is only going to grow from here… and designers will certainly play a role.

In the next post on Green Design Dialogues, I will share more about our May 25th discussion. We discussed the next steps for green design, working with clients towards sustainability, paper and beyond, and ideas for spreading sustainability within the design industry and the world.

Editor's note: Since we missed the weekend review last week, we thought we'd give you a double shot this week.

On Memorial Day Weekend, Americans gear up for summer with BBQs, road trips, and camping. This year, for a twist on the Memorial Day camping trip, I attended the Sasquatch Music Festival at the Gorge Ampitheater in the middle of Washington. The twist was that the festival was carbon neutral, and so was our transportation.

The Gorge Ampitheater is an impressive venue. On the edge of the Columbia River Gorge, the sun sets just behind the stage and the seating is on grass-covered hillside. The view is spectacular, and since Michael Franti and Spearhead were playing, I had to go.

I was thrilled to find out that the concert was carbon-neutral, through a partnership with Sustainable Energy Partner's Carbon Harmony program (which we covered here). And since my boyfriend and I just got our "volksvegan" waste vegetable oil powered VW van up and running, we made most of the trip carbon-neutral as well!

Carbon Harmony projects are not just carbon-neutral, they go a step above by being over 100% offset:

Carbon Harmony is taking the fight against global warming up to 11! Going a step beyond carbon neutral, Carbon Harmony projects result in a net reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.

Carbon Harmony is taking action against climate change so that an event, vehicle, business or project actually has a reducing effect on the amount of carbon dioxide in the environment. We know that there is already too much CO2 in the atmosphere. It isn't enough to just put out less. We need to REDUCE the amount of CO2. That's what Carbon Harmony is about.

For every carbon harmony project, calculations are done to understand what the CO2 emmisions impact would be. Then, a larger amount of carbon reductions credits are purchased to offset the impact of that project and to actually reduce the overall level of CO2 in the air. Harmony amounts start at 10% more than neutral and can go as high as you want.

The more people that get involved, the less CO2 there will be, and the closer we will be to solving the climate change problem.

Going above and beyond carbon-neutral is definitely a good thing! Unfortunately, the way the event was run would never have led me to believe that sustainability was a major focus of the event. The Gorge may be a beautiful location, but the venue's operations certainly don't promote green living. The overpriced campground was full of mowed grass instead of local plants or even trees, there was garbage everwhere, and aside from one recycling tent, I didn't see a single recycling collection container in the campground or the concert venue. I saw toilet paper being thrown into the wind over the concert just for fun. I waited in line for half an hour only to find out that there were no more veggie burgers, and the only other thing that was vegan on the menu was a $5 cup of fries. So, Sasquatch may have been talking the talk, but the venue certainly wasn't walking the walk.

The low level of eco-consciousness at the venue and in the campground, coupled with the steep ticket, food, and camping prices, was almost enough to make me wish we'd stayed home. Then, they shut down the main stage because of high winds. The Gorge is always windy (and just across the river was a beautiful ridge full of windmills to prove it), but apparently it was too windy for the stage to be safe. They rearranged the schedule a bit and thankfully the wind died down in the evening. But, since the schedule was rearranged, I had to choose between Micheal Franti and the Beastie Boys, and would have really liked to see both.

Despite my disappointments of how the concert was managed, Michael Franti and Spearhead put on a great show of postive, passionate, protest music and made the whole thing worthwhile. I gladly support musicians like Michael Franti and Spearhead that walk the walk (Franti plays for prisoners and soldiers in Iraq, raises awareness of important issues, traveled to the Middle East, and is vegan). Of course, the fact that our test run with the grease system on the "volksvegan" went off without a hitch was a huge bonus to my weekend as well!

I appreciate that popular concerts and events are doing their part to help combat global warming - that's certainly a trend I'd like to see continue. But when the concert experience seems antithetical to the carbon neutrality and eco-consciousness of the event, the green message is only hindered and it makes it all seem like a greenwashing marketing ploy.

Nice try, Sasquatch. It was fun and all, but you can't just slap a carbon-neutral sticker on an event and call it sustainable. Apparently the Sasquatch needs to evolve…

AIGA Center for Sustainable Design web site

Sustainability has become a buzz word in the design industry. Graphic design industry magazines such as HOW and Communication Arts are publishing articles (and even entire issues) devoted to green design regularly. Designers are starting to pay attention and change the way they work.

Sustainable and eco-conscious design has been a long time in the making, but the proliferation of web sites and resources on the subject in recent years and months shows that momentum is building. One growing resource, AIGA Center for Sustainable Design, represents, to me, a benchmark in the green design movement.

AIGA, the professional association for design, is a major force in the design industry. The fact that they have begun paying attention to green design represents a big step in the right direction. AIGA is the oldest and largest membership association for professional designers. Accordingly, designers tend to pay attention to AIGA, and hopefully to its sustainability resources.

 The Center for Sustainable Design provides a discussion forum, green design news, event information, case studies, and information on sustainability all in a well-designed, easy to digest web site. The site has grown from almost nothing to an invaluable tool for any designer concerned with sustainability. AIGA describes their mission in creating the site:

The AIGA Center for Sustainable Design is dedicated to providing designers with practical information regarding sustainable business practice. Through case studies, interviews, answers and discourse the Center will encourage and support designers as they incorporate sustainable thinking into their professional lives.

Sustainability is a growing concern for many designers. Accordingly, it will be examined from a wide range of perspectives: from the nuts and bolts of daily studio life to the larger marketplace dynamics and global concerns within which designers operate. This will be accomplished primarily through the community website, conferences and an online forum.

Currently the site has definitions of sustainability, downloads, industry news, and a great article on 11 questions to ask before you design, specify, or buy anything. You could literally spend hours on this site, which gathers many useful readings and web links in the resources section. New articles and features are being added every time I visit, so it's definitely one to bookmark and return to often. I hope that the Center can continue to serve as a comprehensive database. With the growing popularity of green design, it's good to have a solid resource to bring it all together and make sustainability the norm in the design industry.

Green Hub Concept by Shelter ArchitectureGreen design at its finest is not only sustainable, but low-cost, beautiful, useful, and maybe even life-saving. Combining urban renewal, social action, and green architecture is the Clean Hub.

This portable, self-powered water and sanitation station has many sustainable features, including a composting toilet, rainwater collection and filtration system, and solar panels that, along with a battery, provide all the power the Clean Hub needs and then some. The idea came from folks at Shelter Architecture, but thanks to architecture and design students at the University of Minnesota, it will soon be put to use in New Orleans, where it will be the centerpiece of a community that will foster sustainable growth.

John Dwyer from Shelter Architecture, who also led the students in designing a prototype of the Clean Hub, describes the project:

Shelter developed the idea through a 2 year research and development process. We then brought it in to a studio to allow students to design and build a real world application of it.

The hub is totally off-grid, generating its own water through rain water collection, it's own electricity through photovoltaics, and its own sanitation through composting toilets and gray water irrigation.

The first prototype heads to a learning garden in the hardest hit area of New Orleans on June 21st, the summer solstice.

The architecture students at the University of Minnesota took the concept and ran with it, creating a low-cost solution based on a used storage container that can be easily transported to disaster-stricken areas to provide necessary infrastructure. It was built using recycled and donated parts, lots of elbow grease, and a green vision. The Clean Hub is a simple solution to a complex and common problem that is certainly more practical and sustainable than what FEMA currently uses!

The Clean Hub will be sent to the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, and will serve as a building block to a sustainable rebuilding effort supported by many local organizations. A community garden, farmer's market, and public gathering space will eventually surround it, leading to urban renewal with sustainability in mind.

Hopefully with the success of the Clean Hub in New Orleans, the idea can be continued to help provide water, sanitation, and renewable energy wherever it is needed around the globe. The design was created with urban slums and refugee camps in mind, both possible future homes of the Clean Hub.

This design encompasses cradle-to-cradle thinking, sustainable development, poverty relief, and community building as well as green design. It's not every day that architecture is used to save the planet and help the poor, but the Clean Hub was an opportunity for architecture professionals and students to do just that.

Like all industries, the design and visual communications industries are changing. The recent wave of green consciousness sweeping the world has rubbed off on everyone from designers to CEOs. This is an exciting time to be a designer in a changing industry and a changing world. And of course, I have high hopes for the future of my chosen field.

The design industry has come a long way. There are now many sustainable options for printing and paper, and even web hosting. With more sustainable materials and tools at hand, designers are able to explore greener options and lower the environmental impact of their work. And since graphic designers work hand in hand with the paper industry, which is the largest industrial consumer of water and the third greatest industrial greenhouse gas emitter, it's about time that sustainability became a bigger part of the industry. There is much room for improvement in design, and many changes are on the horizon.

When I was studying design in college, I became interested in socially and environmentally conscious design (it was even the subject of my thesis). It seemed that this consciousness was just beginning to take hold in an industry that had been mostly focused on commercial interests since the dawn of the advertising age. The fresh ideas coming from the industry excited me, and I predicted a future in which the role of the designer was that of a problem solver, applying the design process to more than just visual media, but to solutions that would have a positive impact on the world. I imagined that designers would begin going deeper, thinking more critically about each thing we create, and learning from the ultimate designer: nature. Slowly but surely, my dreams of a green design industry are becoming a reality.

Fast forward a few years, and I'm seeing even more exciting ideas propelling the design industry forward. I'm hoping it won't be long before green design is synonymous with good design, and designers are as concerned about the sustainability of their projects as the aesthetics. Design firms focused on environmentally conscious design are becoming quite common, and independent designers are beginning to realize that having knowledge of green design solutions is an asset to their businesses as well as to their clients. There is a hopeful air in the industry today and a call for change from designers themselves.

Visual design is one of the most powerful forms of communication. Designers have the ability to open minds to new ideas, explain complex issues, educate the public, persuade people to take action, and give ideas wings. As an image-driven culture, the ability to create and manipulate the images people are exposed to is an immense power. As designers realize this power and harness it, I am hoping that change on a massive scale will occur. I dream of a day when every step of the design process is accompanied by critical thought about environmental impact, when there is no trash because everything has been designed to be reused or recycled, when there's no such thing as virgin paper. I dream of all design taking a cradle to cradle approach, analyzing the consequences of every part of a product's life cycle. I dream of a redesign of our world to mimic the resourceful, beautiful, wasteless designs of nature. And I believe the design industry plays a big role in making these dreams come true.

We have a long way to go before design becomes a sustainable industry. But progress is being made, and minds are shifting in the right direction. As more and more designers realize the power they have to not only produce sustainable designs, but to change the world through their work, a greener future will be realized.

Links: Design Will Change on Business of Design Online, Cradle to Cradle, Design Can Change, my paper on The Future of Design